Time Fairy
by astropixie
Summary: The TARDIS is drawn to an energy source in the 51st century. When the Doctor and Rose step out to investigate, their findings are horrific and might answer some questions about their old friend, Jack Harkness.
1. Chapter 1

The Doctor's face was lit up both with childish excitement and the green glow of the central column of the TARDIS as he grinned at Rose, who was seated in the chair by the console.

"You like bananas, right, Rose?" he asked, running and twirling around his controls in his usual little dance. Rose laughed, her tongue poking at the corner of her mouth.

"Not as much as you," she said.

"Well, I just like them a bit," the Doctor said, throwing a lever triumphantly and standing back, watching the column grind up and down. "Bananas are good."

"So, come on, tell me," Rose said. "Where're we going now?"

"Banana groves of Villengard," the Doctor said.

Rose put a hand to her mouth and looked at him with wide eyes. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah! Course I'm serious," the Doctor said. He tilted his head to the side. "Bananas? Good?"

"It's just," Rose faltered, then went on, "It's just that I thought Jack was from around then, or I thought he might have mentioned that, or something."

"Yeah, he might have done," the Doctor said, his enthusiasm waning a bit. Then his manic grin was back. "No matter! Just you and me, Rose, a nice little walk through the banana trees. Sounds nice, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, I s'pose," Rose said.

"We could go somewhere else," the Doctor offered after a few moments of silence, eyeing her apathetic reception to their destination.

"No, it's fine, really," Rose said, smiling. "Really," she added, when the Doctor's eyebrows went up in a questioning manner.

"All right, then," the Doctor said, "Tropical wonderland, here we co-"

The TARDIS gave a frightening shriek, and both Rose and the Doctor were tossed to the side of the room by the door. Rose sat up and held her head, while the Doctor sprang up and fought the shaking of the whole ship to get back to the controls.

"Doctor, what's going on?" Rose asked, picking herself up and falling over again.

The Doctor didn't answer right away; he was bent over the screen on the console, holding on and trying not to pitch across the room.

"Doctor!" Rose shouted over the noise, in his face after struggling to grip the console across from him.

"It's the TARDIS," the Doctor said tersely.

"I got that part!" Rose yelled.

"We're being pulled toward something, like the TARDIS is attracted to whatever it is."

"What is 'whatever it is'?"

"Rose, would I call it 'whatever it is' if I knew whatever it actually is?"

"Can't you do something?" Rose asked.

Another enormous jolt that sent the pair of them straight to the ground answered Rose's question for her.

"We've landed," the Doctor said, rubbing his arm.

"Not the banana groves, I take it?" Rose said.

"I'm not sure," the Doctor admitted. He was up now and looking at that screen again, just as confused as Rose. He didn't look well, she noted. His dark eyes seemed watery and his face drawn and lined.

"Should we go take a look?" Rose suggested when the Doctor was slow to do so.

The Doctor swallowed and nodded. "Yes, I think so."

Rose frowned. "You okay?"

"I'm always okay," the Doctor said, letting Rose clearly know that he wasn't. But he grabbed his long coat from the support beam by the door, and Rose followed, wondering what they would find.


	2. Alarms again

The Doctor and Rose walked down a cold and airless stone tunnel together. Something about the place scared Rose. The corridor had uneven walls and ceilings, intermittently lit by dim, flickering lights. It smelled closed and like death, or at least of something old and rotting. Her breath formed puffs of clouds in front of her, and she shivered, edging closer to the Doctor. He looked down at her and put on an engaging fake smile, taking her hand.

"It's not always sunshine and apple grass, is it?" the Doctor said.

"No, it's not," Rose said, shivering again. "Doctor, what is this place?"

"We did end up in the fifty-first century, like planned," the Doctor said, his smile gone as he peered around the corner of the hallway. "But I'm not familiar with this place. I think we're on an asteroid."

"If this is an asteroid, we're just inside a little rock in space, right?" Rose asked. "How are we breathing, how is there gravity?"

"You humans come along way in three thousand years, you know," the Doctor said, impulsively turning down the next corridor. "The whole thing is probably shielded, sealed off from the vacuum. And there's artificial gravity."

Rose nodded and gripped the Doctor's hand more tightly in her own. There were doors cut into the rock now, heavy-looking metallic doors that looked like prison cells.

"Doctor, should we be here?" Rose asked.

"Should we be anywhere we go?" the Doctor answered.

"It's just that it feels funny here," Rose said. "Like we're really not supposed to be here. Like it's a secret government base or something."

"Rose, how much T.V. have you been watching lately?"

"I'm serious!" Rose said.

They came to a door with a window in it. Rose and the Doctor peered through, and the Doctor reached down to open it.

"Wait!" Rose said, putting a hand on top of his, which was resting on the cool metal doorknob. He looked at her, surprised, with a smirk tugging at his lips. "Are you sure you should be opening doors? What if there's an alarm?"

The Doctor leaned against the door, amused at Rose's expense. "Rose, this is an asteroid. In space, sealed off. Why would anyone need more security than that?"

"Okay, fine," Rose said, crossing her arms. "Open it, then."

"I will," the Doctor said, and he did.

All of the dim lights went off, and a blaring alarm sounded from over their heads. Rose covered her ears and shouted in the darkness, "Why would anyone need more security, Doctor?"

Rose felt a hand on her arm, and it pulled her into an embrace. "This is actually a good thing," the Doctor said into her ear, refusing to admit he was in error. Rose gripped him tightly, hanging on to him in the cold, loud blackness. "This way, instead of looking around for people, they should come to us."

"Probably with guns, ready to shoot us," Rose said.

"And now we know that this is a place with people who want a lot of security," the Doctor said, ignoring her last.

Rose rolled her eyes and kept holding him, the alarms drilling into her brain. She was thankful when they stopped abruptly, but a shouting, rough female voice nearby made her jump.

"Don't move! Command, confirm two intruders on the second level, one male, one female, apparently human. Both are unarmed."

"Hello!" the Doctor said cheerily. He let go of Rose and turned to the source of the voice, still blind in the dark. "I'm the Doctor and this is Rose. We're just passing through, don't mind us."

"Command, the male appears to be insane," the voice said. "Request orders."

Rose would have giggled if the situation weren't so dire. The Doctor went on, "Well, we're all a little insane, aren't we? Aren't we just? Really, though, we're just passing through, we could leave if you want us to, which it seems you do."

"Restore lighting and take them to the briefing room," a second voice said, presumably the one giving orders to their nearby friend. The lights flickered back into life, and Rose blinked furiously as her eyes got used to the dim light after the complete darkness that only happens when you're underground. Or underground in space.

The Doctor introduced himself to the security guard once again. She was a tough-looking redhead, wearing goggles that had obviously allowed her to see in total darkness and wielding a vicious-looking gun.

"And your name is?" the Doctor asked.

"Irrelevant. Go through that door you broke and walk straight ahead," the woman said.

"Broke?" the Doctor said. "I didn't break anything!"

Rose bit her lip to keep from smiling again. No matter how bad their situation, there was always something to laugh at. "You listen to me next time," she said.

"Cut the chatter," the woman said from behind them. "Move!"

The Doctor and Rose allowed themselves to be marched down several more identical tunnels, until they reached a sterile, pale white hallway with harsh lighting and eight identical plain doors. They entered one and were left alone.

"Still think it was a good idea to set off the alarm?" Rose asked.

"I don't see why it wasn't," the Doctor said, crossing his arms as he sat down in a stiff metal chair, putting his Converse-covered feet on the empty table. "It seems we've been brought to a place and we'll be talking to someone of authority soon."

"Yeah, as prisoners."

The Doctor waved a hand. "Prisoners, guests, same thing."

Rose seated herself next to the Doctor and looked up as the door opened to admit someone new. A tall, distinguished-looking man, almost militaristic in his manner and dress, entered and seated himself across the table from the two of them. The Doctor's feet were gone in a flash, returned to their proper place on the floor.

"I'm the commander of this facility," the man said.

"Congratulations," the Doctor said, smiling winningly. "Quite an accomplishment, seems a nice place."

"Doctor," Rose said warningly as the man's face soured. The Doctor sobered up and let the commander speak.

"I'd like to know how the two of you got onboard, and what your intentions are," the commander said stiffly.

"Well, Rose and I never have bad intentions," the Doctor said. "Not that good ones are always, well, good either. Road to hell and all that. What's your name, Commander?"

"Irrelevant," the commander said, leaning forward menacingly. "Answer my questions."

"Right, your questions," the Doctor said. "Well, we have a ship, a time ship, if you will, and we were pulled off course and into your facility. Is this place a ship, too? You said 'onboard.' That word makes me think of ships."

The commander frowned. "Are you telling me you don't know where you are?"

"Yes!" the Doctor said. "No clue! Got here by mistake, started wandering around."

Rose was surprised the Doctor was being so honest, but she supposed they didn't have to hide time traveling from people in this era. And it was better than continuing to try the imposing man's patience.

"I'm going to have to see your time ship," the commander said. "And I'm going to have to make sure you're not lying."

Rose had a bad feeling about that last bit. She kept quiet and let the Doctor do all the talking, however.

"Rose, am I lying?" the Doctor said.

"No, that's what happened," Rose confirmed, although she hated how silly the Doctor was being.

"There, you see?" the Doctor said to the commander, who was drumming his fingers against the table. "No lying."

"You really don't know where you are," the commander said quietly, although it seemed mostly to himself.

"Nope," the Doctor said, popping his "p" at the end. "Where are we?"

"Your time ship," the commander said tersely, standing up. Rose and the Doctor followed suit. "Take me to it."

"Yes, sir," the Doctor said, leading the way. He stumbled for no apparent reason after a minute of walking. Rose had a terrible sinking feeling, but she kept quiet and followed along.


End file.
